Tears in the Rain
by lunarmira
Summary: AU. Neji a private investigator in the city of Konoha gets a case to find a missing runaway. Trouble is the runaway is the next target of a madman working for a shady character. Neji/Gaara
1. Chapter 1

_**Tears in the Rain**_

_**AN:**__ All Naruto characters are owned by Kishimoto and his people. This is an act of love and is for fun not profit._

_Maya is my own little creation, and you should kind of recognize her from my other Neji/Gaara story. _

_**Chapter One  
**_

_Rain. It was always raining it seemed. Maya sighed as she lifted the collar of her jacket and rubbed the back of her neck, cursing at herself as she mourned the loss of her long dark tresses, as opposed to the horribly done cropped bleach job she had now. _

Father won't find me if he can't recognize me, _she reminded herself, and she fumbled in her pocket for her cell phone, ducking under an awning and pressed the button for the only speed-dialed number saved in the small machine. _

_She cursed as the automated message telling her the phone was out of service came up, "I should have never stopped turning tricks." It was loathsome and she hated it, but at least the bills got paid. _

_A shadow fell over her, "Lost little girl?"_

_She looked up and gasped, "Y...you..." Fear in her eyes, she turned and started to run._

_He didn't even run after her, just walked with a steady lethal purpose as opposed to the small teenager's frantic attempt of escape._

_An attempt that caused her to make a mistake, one she realized as soon as she turned down an alley and found it blocked by a high fence._

_She kicked off her pumps and grabbed the chain links, _I've run from pimps before like this, I can get away from him, _she scrambled as fast as she could up and was almost away when her left foot was grabbed and she came crashing down._

_"I'm getting paid a lot of money to make sure you never talk." the man grinned, "You should have stayed at home Miss Maya."_

_She groaned as she tried to get back up, to get away, anything that might save herself, "I wasn't going to talk about Father," she managed to gasp out, "I promise!"_

_"No. You're not." the man had a feral grin as she cowered from him, eyes darting around for something, _anything, _that she could use as a weapon._

_But there was no time. The man drove a large sword into her chest, and she gasped at the pain as she slowly lost consciousness, life ebbing away from her in a large pool of blood. _

_Her eyes darkened and as she faded away from her life, she thought of the only person that she trusted and considered a friend in her insignificant existence, _Please... don't let them find Gaara...

* * *

"How long has your brother been missing?" Tenten asked the blonde woman sitting across from her, "And have the police been on this case?"

"They have, but it's been over a year and nothing," Temari sighed, "Shikamaru suggested your agency, but I've used private investigators before and they weren't able to turn up anything. He doesn't want to be found."

"You haven't tried us yet," the brunette assured the taller woman, "Now why don't you think he wants to be found?"

The blonde chewed her lip, "Probably because he killed our uncle. But we found the tape that proves it was self-defense!" tears formed in her eyes, "I was away and if I had known what that bastard was doing..." clenching her fists she brought them crashing down on the desk, "A year! I come back home a few weeks ago and he was _gone_ and that lazy ass Kankuro tells me he's been gone a _year. _What kind of _idiot_ lets his brother stay on the streets for that long! Gaara was only sixteen when he ran away!"

A hand patted her shoulder reassuringly, and Temari looked up to find a man with long brown hair and pale eyes smiling softly at her, "We'll find him. Besides we owe Shikamaru for some ugliness. This one's on us."

"Won't pay any bills that way," Tenten grumbled, but shut her mouth when Neji shot her a look.

"You said there was a tape that proved his innocence?" Neji asked, "May I ask if the police have the only copy?"

Temari nodded. "I never saw what was on it, but the detective in charge of the case gave me the gist of it."

"And did Kankuro give you any reason why he didn't try and look for his brother?" Tenten asked, jotting down the blonde woman's testimony.

"He thought Gaara was troubled enough and would find it difficult to come home," she sighed again, "And personally, I don't blame him if he does choose to never comes home. I just want to know if my baby brother is safe."

"So find him and then what?" Tenten asked, "If he's on the streets there's no telling what's going on with him."

"There's a private account I set up. It's my money from the army and it's enough to set Gaara up so he won't want for anything," a small smile appeared on her lips, "When I had left for my tour of duty he had talked about opening a small book store, granted that was a few years ago, when he was twelve, but I just want him to be happy. Shikamaru said you guys could be trusted to get that money to him."

Tenten and Neji nodded and she placed a manilla envelope on the desk, "Thank you," Temari whispered as she left the room.

A few moments after she left, Neji picked up the envelope, "Seems like the information from her brother's trial is here too... it was thrown out of court, but because of the video it seemed, the boy had run away soon after it started."

"A murder trial gets thrown out of court?" Tenten raised an eyebrow, "That's odd."

"Not really, there seemed to have been a bribe from the corporation the middle sibling worked for" Neji whistled, "I had heard about her from Shikamaru, I wonder how well he fared when she had gotten home and realized the youngest sibling was gone."

"Not very I'm guessing," Tenten agreed, "Not if she's the same woman who pulled his ass out of the fire in Baghdad."

The office door opened and Lee came in then with three therma cups and packaged breakfast, "Gooood morning Gai Detective Agency! It is a beautiful day to be..."

"We got a case Lee," Tenten interrupted him, "Want to pass out the coffee so we can get started?"

"A case already! Wonderful! A great way to show our youth and determination!" Lee grinned as he set up the breakfast on the table in the corner of the office, "Tell me about it."

Neji sipped his coffee and looked over the files, ignoring the financial account for the time being, as Tenten filled in the third partner on the present case. Raising his eye at the police officer in charge of the murder investigation he smiled a bit. "We have our first lead it seems. He owes me."

"Who?" Tenten asked as Neji grabbed his long coat and fedora, "And why do you insist on wearing that lame hat!"

"Because I make it look good," he smirked, "You two see if you can find our street contact and see if they've seen our little red-head. I'll be back after talking to the police and getting what they know."

Lee flashed him a blinding smile, "Wonderful! We'll have this case solved in no time!"

* * *

Itachi groaned as he saw the all too familiar fedora cross the police lines and make a bee-line straight towards him, "What the hell do you want?"

Neji gave him a crooked smile as he handed the raven haired detective a cup of coffee, "I have a new case today and I think you have information for me."

"I'm in the middle of a homicide and you come to me for this," Itachi sighed, "Haven't you even noticed the dead girl that the coroner's in the middle of checking."

"Certainly a lot of blood," Neji looked lazily up at the fence, "There's a piece of ripped cloth up there, it seemed like she was trying to get away from whoever it was. Who was the girl anyways?"

"Maya St. Claire... and yes, _those_ St. Claires." Itachi closed his eyes for a second, "She had been missing for a long while, about two years it seems, and she turned up dead."

Neji whistled, "Seems like an awful odd family to run from, I wonder what her reason is."

"You always side with the runaways, even when they turn out to be nothing but spoiled punks looking for attention," Itachi grumbled.

"I brought _him_ back home," Neji reminded him, "And I have good reason to side with the runaways." he knelt down and peered across the fence, "Hey... there's a phone over there it seems."

"What?" Itachi bent down and looked, then pulled a glove from his pocket and reached through the bottom chains and pulled it out, "Odd for a runaway to have this. Usually they find a place to squat or turn to drugs or prostitution." his eyes darkened, "That might have been what the phone was for actually." he flipped it open, "So what is this information that I might have for you."

"I'm looking for a boy that was accused of murder a year ago," Neji started.

"Gaara Sabaku?" Itachi asked.

"Well, yes." Neji asked surprised, "I suppose he wasn't that hard to remember..."

"Because Gaara is the only name listed in this phone," Itachi held up the small screen for him, "I don't like coincidences. They usually mean something." he glanced over at the forensics team, "You and I will continue this conversation in my office."

* * *

"Temari mentioned there was a tape that proved his innocence, but she didn't say what was on it," Neji flipped his fedora in his hands, "I don't suppose you still have the copy of it."

"It's in forensics but I can give you the gruesome details," Itachi folded his hands together, "It's a little snuff film starring the missing boy and his uncle. The twist comes when the boy finally lashes out and the uncle's the one dead. Personally I was very happy to see the case thrown out, but then you know _exactly_ how I feel about pedophiles."

"I imagine some form of therapy was deemed necessary," the private eye mused, "But by then he had already disappeared."

"Right. And the sister didn't even find out about the murder trial until she came home. She was in here a few days ago chewing my ass out until her boyfriend came and got her."

"It seems your new murder victim had something to do with the boy though... I almost wish you guys had found her before she got killed."

"Her father had loads of expensive private investigators looking for her. Something about her bothers me... and this is strictly off record though," Itachi looked around the police station and leaned closer to Neji, "Her wounds. I've seen them before," he whispered, "Back when I was special forces."

Neji's eyes widened, "What are you saying?"

"It was a hit. You need to find your boy and _fast, _because if they have any inkling that he was connected with little Miss St. Claire, and it won't take much," Itachi's eyes darkened, "They'll target him next."

* * *

He had hidden himself when he saw the police officers leave the scene, covering his head with his black jacket's hood and watched quietly as the coroner took the body away, following the silent ambulance with sorrow filled teal eyes, gripping the handle of the violin case, one of the few possessions he had taken with him when he ran.

_Maya. _he thought sadly, _Was this why you always seemed so scared?_

He walked away from the alley and found himself in the bustling market place, sighing he counted in his pocket for a small amount of change to buy some coffee to warm up his hands so that he could get to work. _She was going to call me... and I couldn't even pay the bill to keep the phone on._

He sat for a moment, drinking his small cup of coffee and scanned the area for the best place to set up. Thinking of the girl who had found him a year ago when he had first gotten to the streets brought a small smile to his face, _She cheered me up when no one else could. Damnit..._ the smile faded away, he felt a twinge of guilt in his gut. He was the one who convinced her to give up prostitution and try and make a honest living.

Which admittedly wasn't that easy either, but you could look at yourself in the mirror and not hate what you saw.

_Was that how she was found? But she didn't go to any of the regular places for a job... _He chewed his lip as he thought for a moment, _That diner she worked at wouldn't have given her up. She even had a false name for them... _No that couldn't have been it, the owner was well known on the streets for taking in runaways that didn't want to take the easy way out through crime and prostitution, he wouldn't have given up Maya for anything.

Hell, he was trying to get Gaara to come in too, but the boy couldn't face people, let alone serve them food, and he didn't trust himself to cook.

_I need to head over there and tell him about Maya though. And he _does_ have good soup..._

He shook his head, he wasn't going to take the man's charity. He would go over there for the soup, but only after he had made enough to _pay _for it.

Sighing he rose and went over to the spot he had picked out. Bending down, he took the violin from the case and making sure his hood was still covering his head, began to play.

Certainly he wouldn't make that much money this way, but what money he did make he could live with.

And if anyone noticed the silent tears he cried for Maya, he didn't care.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Tears in the Rain**_

_**AN: **__Naruto is not owned by me. *kicks her luck* Maya I'm claiming though. Poor girl._

_**Chapter Two**_

His hands were very numb when he finally put his instrument away and after closing the case he grabbed in his pockets for the shabby mittens she had knitted for him a few months after they met. _Only October and it's already so cold. _His stomach growled and Gaara flashed it a dirty look, then sighed in defeat, "Alright then. We're going."

Today wasn't all that profitable, and he blamed the drizzling rain and the cooling weather. He briefly wondered if he would be able to find a warm place to sleep in the next few months. Last winter Maya had found an warehouse for the two of them to live in, but the place was demolished in the spring, and they had found themselves on the streets again.

She had laughed it off, he remembered, and took his hand to lead him somewhere else.

_She certainly had a knack for finding the unwanted. _The bell to the diner jingled as he entered it and he found a place in the far back to sit, well away from everyone else, but still where he could see and hear them.

It wasn't the first time he had actually been in the place, but he still didn't feel comfortable. Every time he had been in here before he had been waiting on Maya to get off her shift or eating with her, to be here alone felt strange to him. A feeling of anxiety washed over him when the waitress came to ask his order, but he shook it off and ordered a small cup of the house soup before retreating even further into his jacket. He hated being around people, they had always seemed to judge him. The only time he felt even remotely alright was when he was playing the violin.

The bell jingled again and he glanced up to see a man with long dark hair and pale eyes taking off a fedora as he entered and greeting the owner of the cafe. He was followed by a girl with her brown hair in twin buns and a man with a black bowl watched the three with a bit of fascination and a twinge of jealousy, they didn't seem to have a problem with others. Not only that, they were regulars, Gaara had seen them a few times when Maya was working, and judging by the tips that she got from them, they had a bit of money to throw around.

_"I think they've just been on our side of it," she had argued once, "It's not that they have any extra, they just know that we could use it more." _

They took a booth in front of his, and Gaara found himself facing the pale eyed one, even if it was only through the privacy panel. _Why did you give her that extra money? Don't you know most people are scum that would take advantage of you? _He chewed his lip, and was debating on leaving without eating, but his stomach growled again and the waitress brought his soup and a few grilled cheese sandwiches that he didn't order.

"Owner sent them over," she said winking, and Gaara wanted to kick something. He wasn't a damn charity case!

But the soup _did_ smell good... and those sandwiches seemed to go awfully well with it.

Inwardly sighing in defeat, he pulled the plate to him and began to devour the food.

* * *

"Gai's special curry is just what we need to get our energy back and work on our case!" Lee said happily as the waitress left their order.

Tenten ignored him and turned her attention to Neji, taking a bite out of her sandwich, "You said it seemed like a professional job?"

"That was Itachi's theory," Neji stirred his soup, "I wish I had gotten a look at the girl though, if she did work here I might have been able to narrow down where he is."

Tenten sighed, "You've always had horrible timing."

The three ate in silence for a few moments, with Neji picking at his food, _Something else was off about this morning... but... _His eyes widened, "How did Itachi get the identification of the girl so quickly?"

"Didn't she have some sort of license or something?" Lee asked.

"Not if she was out on the streets and not wanting to be found," Neji pointed out, "She had been missing for two years already... so how did she get found and identified so quickly after her death."

The bell jingled again, and Neji looked up into the mirror across the back of the diner to see the man with a high collared jacket and spiky hair enter the diner, _Don't think I've seen him around._ The man put down a rather large object he had been carrying strapped to his back and hailed Gai down.

"...chi again?" Tenten's voice broke Neji from the mirror.

"What was that?" he asked.

She sighed, "I asked if you think you need to talk to Itachi again. Maybe he can tell you how he made the identification. I bet it was something simple." she took another bite of her food, "You're always too paranoid."

He glanced back up to the mirror to see Gai shaking his head at the man and the bell jingling again as he left. _Wonder what that was all about. _

A slight movement made him shift his glance downwards, and he noticed the figure hiding in the recesses of his jacket leaving a scant amount of change on his table and leaving.

_I think that's the kid who was always with Kari. _Neji took a sip of his coffee and the boy walked by them and left the diner.

"Wait." Neji put down his cup and scooted out of the booth, and stood looking around the diner, "Gai! Did Kari come in today?"

"No, and funny you should ask, that guy that was just in was asking about her," Gai scratched his chin, "You don't think she's in trouble do you?"

Neji was already running out of the diner and into the streets, "I'll pay you for the food in a bit!" he exclaimed. Lee and Tenten followed close behind, _He was right in front of me and I didn't notice! _

* * *

Gaara shivered as he went back out onto the street, but he couldn't stay in the diner too long, not when he had to try and find a place to sleep tonight, _Not that I actually sleep that much but still._ He crossed the street and went back towards the park, there was the slight chance he could make a bit more money.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, and he looked back to see...

Nothing? He stared for a moment, and then shrugged and turned back around.

A few minutes later, he heard the steps again. Clutching his violin case to him, he walked a bit faster.

So did the footsteps behind him.

_Why is someone after me!? _he chewed his lip and turned into a street leading away from the park. He looked back and this time he did see his pursuer, _That's the guy that came in and asked the owner a question, but why is he after me? _

He passed a fruit stand and ducked behind it, hoping to lose him. The spiky haired man came a few minutes later, and turned into the alley next to the stand. Gaara edged back into the street and ran the way he came, _If I can make it back to the diner maybe I can wait it out or something. _

A crash behind him caused him to look back and see the man had come back out of the alley and had smashed a part of the fruit stand with the large object he carried. Some of the wrappings had come off it and Gaara saw what looked like a giant sword underneath.

Completely panicked now, he ran as hard as he could, and he heard the man behind him slowly catching up. _I have to lose him!_

But try as he might, he couldn't. The man kept coming after him.

_Don't you idiots notice him!_ Gaara wanted to scream at the bystanders on the street as he turned onto a side street, hoping it was a shortcut.

His eyes widened, _Dead end! _

"End of the line pipsqueak. I'm being paid a lot of money to tie up loose ends," Gaara turned at the voice to see the man standing right behind him holding that sword.

He didn't think, just swung his violin case and hit the man as hard as he could with it. As it shattered, his heart sank, it didn't even faze the killer who simply lifted the sword up and brought it crashing down.

Or would if it didn't get stopped by the burnette pale eyed man Gaara had seen in the diner earlier, "Are you alright?" Neji asked him as he held the sword still.

The boy couldn't speak, just mutely nodded as he collapsed down, watching the man with fascination.

"Lee!" Neji shouted, "Now!"

The killer turned as Lee jumped down from the building above them in a kick and Neji let go of the sword and punched forward. The man slumped down, unconscious.

"You stay here and keep an eye on him until Tenten finishes getting the police," Neji said, then turned to Gaara who was staring at the spiky haired man.

He didn't even notice that Neji had bent down next to him and pulled down the jacket hood, "Your picture didn't have this tattoo in it," he said quietly tracing the kanji on his forehead, "But the red hair and teal eyes match."

Gaara whipped his head to face the pale eyed man, "Are you after me too?" he said in a quiet voice.

"We are, but not in the same way he was," Neji handed Gaara the same manila folder that Temari left with him that morning, "I'm just supposed to deliver this to you. From your sister." he fished in his pocket and pulled out a small business card, "And if you ever need help, that's where you can find us."

The boy took both and suddenly finding his strength, shakily stood up, "Thanks." He ran past them and back into the street.

"Should we go after him?" Lee asked, "It still may not be safe for him."

Neji shook his head, "Nah. Our part is done." Tenten rushed to them then, with a few police officers close behind.

As they carted the man off, Neji glanced in the direction Gaara had run away in, "Besides, I think he's going to be coming to us on his own."

* * *

Night came and Gaara shivered under the awning of a pawn shop that had closed for the day, going through the contents of the folder under the lamplight.

_I can't take this, _he thought glumly, _She was gone for years and I can't take all her savings like this. It's just not right._

A small smile came to his lips as he remembered his sister who had always made time for him as he was growing up, their parents had died when he was born, and Uncle was the one who raised them, but Temari was the one who made them a family, however dysfunctional it was. _Come to think of it, Uncle didn't really hang around that much when she was there. It wasn't until she left that..._

He shook his head to get rid of the dark thoughts forming in his head, and he dropped the folder. Bending down to pick it up he noticed the little rectangle that was the business card of the pale eyed man.

_Hyuga Neji, Private Investigator. _He wanted to laugh at him, with the fedora and coat, the guy was like an old b-rated cliche. Another smile came and he gingerly touched his tattoo, _Still... he did save my life._

His face darkened, "He'll just end up hurting me too," he whispered and clutched his knees close to him as he tried to keep warm, _All he wanted was to do his job. He didn't care._

He didn't notice the dark shadows peering at him from the alley across the street, nor hear the cell phone vibrate as someone brought it to their ear and answered it.

"No. He won't be a problem. In fact he won't even be missed." the sinister voice spoke in a low voice and listened for a moment, "Of course sir. I'll take care of him now in fact."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Tears in the Rain**_

_**AN: **__Seriously, do I really have to keep telling you I don't own Naruto? Still claiming Maya, I kinda feel bad for her._

_**Chapter Three**_

Gaara sighed and rose from underneath the awning, pausing a moment as he heard soft footsteps behind him.

"Excuse me?" a soft voice said, "I'm a bit lost."

He turned to face a white-haired man, a few years older than himself, who had small glasses perched on his nose, _He looks a bit too well dressed to be another tramp like me. _"What are you looking for?"

"I was told there was a shelter near here, a church or something that gives out some showers and clean clothes. You wouldn't happen to know where it is?"

Gaara nodded, "There are two. St. Mary's is the one that doesn't ask questions, but you have to hurry, the line is already starting. It's three blocks down that way," he pointed and then turned in the opposite direction and started to walk away.

"Why don't you come with me?" the man called after him, "I don't know anyone and you look like you need a place to enjoy yourself."

"No thanks," he turned, "I'm trying to figure some stuff out and want to be left alone."

"Too bad Gaara Sabaku," suddenly the man was practically on top of him, holding a scalpel to his throat, "My boss wants to make sure _anyone _connected with Miss Maya doesn't figure anything out."

Gaara bit the man's arm, causing him to drop the scalpel and then head butted him as hard as he could before running off, ignoring the man's curses and threats.

_I've got to get off the streets, but where? And why is everyone suddenly after me... what was Maya involved in?_

He paused for a moment underneath a street sign and caught his breath, stuffing his hands in his pockets to warm them.

The corner of the business card poked his finger and he took it out, gazing at the address on the back. _That's not too far from here... And I bet I could hire him to figure out what's going on._

He looked behind him, peering to see if he was still being chased. Seeing nothing he chewed his lip and ran down the streets leading to what he hoped was solace... at the very least, a warm place to crash for the night.

* * *

Neji yawned as he rose from the couch and went to the kitchen to look for a late night snack, _What the hell am I thinking trying to stay up to watch the late night mystery theatre? _But the day's events left him feeling a bit anxious and he really _couldn't _sleep, and he hadn't gone to the bookstore to buy anything to read... so late night mystery movies it was. _I suppose I should take Tenten up on that offer to play the online games with her, but it doesn't really appeal to me._

An anxious knocking interrupted his thoughts and he looked confused at the door before walking over and peering through the peephole.

A very scared looking Gaara stood on the other side, and a slight smile came across Neji's face before he undid the locks and opened it.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, ushering the boy in.

The red-head looked around the apartment, taking in Neji's tastes, which consisted of pale blues and whites over light wooden furniture, "You need some darker colors."

Neji ignored the comment and locked the door, "Would you like something to eat or drink? I was about to fix a snack."

"Yes please," Gaara chewed his lip, "I... I need to hire you."

"For what?" the detective took out some bread, meat, and cheese and proceeded to make some sandwiches, pausing for a moment to go back into the fridge and grab some tomatoes.

"Someone else tried to kill me." the boy looked at the man, "And I think whoever it was had something to do with Maya's murder as well... I want you to find out why."

Neji regarded him for a moment, "Alright. But there's the option of pricing." he sliced the tomatoes, "I want you to live here until I solve the case. Makes it easy on me to find you."

"Alright."

"And when this thing is all over, call your sister and let her know you're alright. Wait until we're done though, let's not get her hopes up if something goes really wrong."

A long moment passed before Gaara finally nodded. Neji handed him a sandwich, "We'll go talk to Itachi in the morning, see if we can get some information out of him. And I'll have Tenten see what she can dig up through the computer files that might be on Maya." he gazed at the boy for a second, "Bathrooms down the hall to your left, and you can sleep in the guest bedroom. And you can borrow some of my clothes, though I think I'll take you shopping tomorrow too."

* * *

Itachi rubbed his temples as he saw the all too familiar brunette come into the police station and head straight to his desk, an almost familiar red-head following close behind him.

"So I see you found him," Itachi picked up some paperwork from his desk, "And we have the murderer for the girl, so what is it you want?"

"You're welcome," Neji smirked, "And it seems that the case isn't _exactly _closed yet. There was another attempt on Gaara's life and now I'm working to find out _why. _So anything you can give me on Ms. St. Claire would be helpful."

"No." the raven haired man motioned for the two to go away, Gaara was about to rise, but Neji grabbed his arm.

"Who was it that said that _anything _I need I should only ask?"

"A promise I regret every time I see your stupid hat." Itachi sighed, "Alright. It's not much, but I know that her killer was hired. And it looks like the second one was hired to, so if you can track down the money, you can find the mastermind." he turned to Gaara, "We didn't pick anyone up last night, so odds are the guy who attacked you is still out there."

He nodded and edged deeper into the chair he was sitting in.

"Incidentally, the girl's funeral is tomorrow, so there's a very good chance that you would find some clues there," Itachi handed Gaara a newspaper clipping with the obituary and an older picture of a girl he barely recognized as Maya, _Her hair's all wrong.._. _but I guess she had it cut after she ran away. _

"I'll try and get you a copy of the forensic reports," the police officer whispered to Neji, "But there won't be much in there, you're better off looking elsewhere for this one."

Neji nodded, and then rose, "You have my number if anything comes up."

Itachi waved his hand, "Another thing I regret. But if I hear anything, I'll let you know."

* * *

Gaara picked up a black shirt before turning to Neji, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am. I can't have you wearing the same outfit you came off the streets in," he smirked, "Besides I have an expense account just for this purpose."

The small boy gave a wry smile before turning back to the clothing rack and picking out some more shirts, "I want a new coat too. And some boots."

"Whatever you want," the two finished their shopping in relative peace after that and as they were leaving with the purchases Neji whistled, "Somehow I didn't quite have you pegged as a steampunk."

"I like it," Gaara argued, "Not all of us can do that tranquility thing you have going on. And then you mix it up with that film noir hat and trench coat. You're pretty strange."

"I like what I like," he shrugged, as he led the two to the agency, "Let's see what Tenten found."

The red head nodded, looking in his bags at the clothing and jewelry that he had gotten.

"Do you want to go to her funeral?" Neji asked as they came to the office doors.

Gaara stared at him for a moment, clutching the bags to him, "I.." he frowned, "I think I owe it to her at the very least. And I might find out why it is she ran away in the first place... I have a feeling that's connected with the murder."

The older man ruffled the boy's hair, "I'll make a detective of you yet. That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Then why'd you ask?"

"Because you're in charge right now," Neji opened the door and bowed letting Gaara go in first, "And she was your friend. I could have gone to the funeral without you if it was too painful."

He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Tenten screeching. The two looked at each other and ran down the hall into the office proper.

The white-haired boy was holding a scalpel to Tenten's throat, "So pleased you could join us Hyuga and Sabaku."

"How the hell did you get past Lee?" Neji asked, noticing the third member of his detective agency prone on the floor.

"I sniped him," the white haired grin had a feral glint to it, "I had heard about his fighting skills, so I figured, why take the chance."

Tenten struggled against her captor, "Neji..."

"Don't worry," the brunette smirked, "Gaara... could you get one of those chocolate balls that's in the glass case over there?"

Gaara stared at Neji, "Chocolate? At a time..."

"Get one and stuff it in Lee's mouth," Neji turned to him, "Trust me on this."

"What the hell?" the aggressor stared at the two in shock, "What good is that going to do you?"

Tenten ceased struggling and gave a slight nod to Neji as Gaara fumbled to get the chocolate to Lee. "This is the dumbest thing we ever came up with. You do realize that right," she said.

"If it works, it works. Gaara, you're going to want to come back over here now."

"I won't be ignored!" the white haired was yelling, "My boss won't appreciate you meddling!"

Lee groaned and Neji nodded to Tenten who took her foot and slammed it against the thigh of her captor. He yelped and let her go, and she rolled to get next to the other two in the room.

Lee slowly stood and turned to the white haired, "Heeeeey... what'de hell are you looking at?"


	4. Chapter 4

**_Tears in the Rain_**

_**AN**:__Guess what! I don't own Naruto! And since the last chappie was kinda filler, I kept on writing, so here you go my lovelies._

_**Chapter Four**_

He couldn't believe it, he was hiding behind an overturned desk with Neji and Tenten and they were acting like nothing was weird about Lee sounding... drunk of all things... and fighting with the silver haired man that had attacked him _twice_ now.

Tenten winced at the sound of a crash, "There goes my computer," she sighed, "And it was brand new too."

Neji caught a flower pot that had flown towards them, "Lee! Watch the furniture will you? This is going to come out of your paycheck!"

"This is why I told you and Gai this was a stupid plan!" Tenten cried, "Why can't we have a regular back up plan like a SKS or a M-60 or landmines or _something_!"

Neji playfully flicked her forehead, "Because you're the only one of us who even bothers with weapons, and we don't ever get to see Lee go all out like this."

Gaara took a moment to peer through the wreckage to see the green clad man fight his opponent, who was almost on the verge of collapsing. He was impressed, he had never seen anyone fight like that before, not even in the old kung fu movies he used to watch with his sister.

What was even more amazing was that Lee had _no idea_ that he was in an office, despite Neji's warning, or who he was fighting or even why. _He's given himself completely over to the fight. _Gaara shivered, the thought disturbed him a slight bit, that anyone would get that lost. A feeling of guilt washed over him, _You did once, _a small voice reminded him, _That's what started this whole mess._

The white haired fell down and Lee staggeredly turned to face the others. Neji and Tenten exchanged a look and sighed in massive defeat both standing right after.

"Lee my youthful friend! You did it!" Tenten shouted posing and pointing at her friend.

"You have defeated the enemy! Now let us rejoice and celebrate!" Neji added, joining the girl in the pose.

Gaara stared at them both with utter shock on his face.

"Huzzah! My youthful friends!" Lee grinned ear to ear, "I only wish that Gai-sensei had seen my wonderful display!" he faltered for a moment before he collapsed, being caught by Neji.

"Gah, now we have to clean up the place," Tenten grumbled.

"Call the police first," the brunet placed Lee down and lifted the white-haired, "I'll secure him in case he wakes up before they come.

A strange sound caused them both to look at the red-head, and a small smile came to Neji's face as he realized the boy was laughing, _I don't blame him. This has to be the funniest thing he's seen in a long time._

The twin bunned girl harrumphed and went to the phone which had, miraculously, survived Lee's fight. "I _hate_ our back-up plan!"

* * *

The police had taken the man, identified as Kabuto, and made a report of the damages done to the place. Gaara helped Neji and Tenten clean up the office as best as he could, and well into the evening, the brunet had helped Tenten carry Lee out of the office and placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's getting late, and if you're going to that funeral tomorrow you should clean up."

He nodded, and followed Neji to the apartment in the next building over, "Why is your apartment the one on your business card? And not your office?"

He chuckled, "I actually accidentally gave you one of my more... ah personal cards," there was a slight tone of embarrassment in his voice, "I reserve those for a desperate attempt to get a date."

Gaara stared at him, before a teasing smile came to his face, "So you find me attractive? Ouch!" Neji had flicked his forehead.

"Cute no doubt, but the jury's still out on exactly how attractive I find you," he unlocked the door, "It'll certainly help to see you cleaned up and in some new clothes," he took the shopping bags from earlier, "I noticed last night you just passed out on the couch and this morning we hit it running. So go shower."

The red head gave a mock salute and went to the bathroom, "Wait... where are you putting my clothes?" he asked peering out the doorway.

"In your room. I'm going to order some pizza."

Gaara smiled and closed the bathroom door, looking at his surroundings with a sigh, _Seriously... I need to get some darker colors in here. It's too bright. _he thought at the white and silver interior of the room, _Nice and clean though. _

An hour later he pulled on a black t-shirt as he walked into the living room, "Enjoy yourself?" Neji asked from the bar separating the kitchen and main room.

"Shut up," Gaara claimed a stool and lifted a few slices of pizza onto a plate. Noticing the papers the brunet was looking at he raised a skinny eyebrow, "What's that?"

"Itachi's report. I got it earlier but we were cleaning up," Neji narrowed his eyes at something, "How did you meet Maya anyway?"

"It was about the third or fourth night I was out. I was starving and had went in the back of a restaurant, and she kinda tripped over me." he rested his head on his palm, "I don't know why, but she took me under her wing then."

"Hmm, do you remember where?"

"It was that place over by the highway, the one with the..." his voice trailed off and he looked up at Neji, "The one where the business men go to find an escort."

"She was a prostitute before she started at Gai's diner right?" he placed the report down, "It actually says so here, she had gotten arrested a few times before for that, but had somehow gotten bailed out. Now look who signed the bail."

"Demarco St. Claire," Gaara read.

"Now look at the names of the surviving family members in the obituary," he pointed to the newspaper clipping, "Demarco St. Claire... father."

"And that club, who owns it?" Gaara asked quietly.

"I'll have Tenten search that one up, but I'm willing to bet anything that St. Claire owned it as well," he put another page of the report down, "She was recorded as a runaway, but she wasn't. Her father knew where she was the whole time... what's more it seemed that she was _working _for him."

"But she said she was hiding from him! She even had cut her hair and bleached it," Gaara pointed out, "He would have..."

"Not if she wasn't directly working for him," white eyes narrowed as he went through more of the report, "Have you two ever really stayed in one place for too long?"

"No, excepting that warehouse we slept in for winter. She was worried that we would get found and forced to be separated. It wasn't until she had gotten a job at the diner that we even thought about trying to save up for a house or something."

A harsh wind beat against the windows and Gaara stared at the pitch dark outside for a moment, "She had to have known something. Both the people who tried to kill me said that they were tying up loose ends. But she never really talked about her family or why she had run."

"Did she know about why you ran?"

A slight nod, then Gaara rose from the stool, "If it's her dad she was running from, we're going to be facing him tomorrow."

"This might be dangerous. Are you sure you want to go?"

He chewed his lip, "Whatever it was that got her killed is something big. I want to find out what it was." he walked down the hall to his room, "She used to have nightmares a lot. I never slept so I would play my violin," he felt a small twinge of regret, the violin was shattered now, "And she would curl up and sleep next to me. She might have taken me in, but I feel like I protected her from something."

* * *

Sleep never was very kind to Gaara, and even though he had found it easy to pass out last night, he found himself awake and staring at the ceiling with contemplative teal eyes.

_Only a few days ago I was wondering where I was going to sleep this winter. _But something ate at him, a small voice of doubt, _Why is he taking me in like this? What's he get out of it?_

_He's just going to leave me too..._

He groaned and rose from the bed, and walked into the hallway, gazing silently at the pictures hanging along the wall, most of them of the three in the agency with the owner of the diner in a few of them, there was one with Neji in a military uniform, standing next to a two boys, a blonde and a raven haired that reminded him of Itachi, next to that was another of Neji, this one with him a little younger, standing next to a small mousy girl that seemed to be related to him, _His sister? They share the same features._

A slight snore interrupted his thoughts and he turned to see that the door to the brunet's room was a bit ajar. Taking a few faltered steps, he peered into the room to see Neji sprawled out on the bed deep in sleep.

Without figuring a reason why, Gaara walked into the room and to the bed, something about his face seemed different in slumber and when he got to the bed he finally figured out what.

On the man's forehead was a strange tattoo, the red-head stared at it for a moment, _He has to use make-up or something to cover it up... but how..._

Painful memories flooded to him, and he gingerly touched the kanji on his own forehead, "You're just like me aren't you?" he whispered, sweeping a lock of dark brown hair away from the man's face.

His face burned up, and he rushed out of the room, _There's no way I can let him see me do that! _Part of him reeled in disgust, memories of what Uncle had done came flooding back to him... no way did he ever wanted something like that again.

Another part wanted to go back in there and... he shook his head, _I'm a stray cat. I'm certain he doesn't feel anything more about me than work. Besides you only like him because he saved your life. _To even further prove the theory he attempted to convince himself that if Lee or Tenten had saved him...

He sighed, that was no good. Preoccupied with his thoughts he went back to the room, wholly unaware of the white eyes that had been watching him or the bemused smile on Neji's face.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Tears in the Rain**_

_**AN: **__Naruto is not mine. I'm still claiming Maya, and as much as I hate to admit this, Demarco is mine too. Also, I would love some feedback, so please review. Like it? Hate it? LET ME KNOW!_

_**Chapter Five**_

There was the sound of light cursing and a slight burning smell when Neji opened his eyes in the morning. Confused he rose out of bed and walked down the hall to the kitchen where he saw the source.

An amused smile came to his face as he watched the red-head fight with to flip the pancakes that were sticking to the pan. A pile of the dark discs sat on a plate next to the stove. "Having problems?"

"I was hungry and saw you had some mix," Gaara growled at the remaining circles still cooking, "I forgot I haven't made pancakes in a while." he narrowed his eyes, "I remember it being a lot easier."

Neji sat down at the bar as the last of the pancakes were taken up from the pan, "Out of curiosity, what are you going to do with the money Temari gave you?"

"Give it back," came the prideful reply, "I want to make it on my own."

"You've been doing a stellar job so far," the brunet observed.

"Shut up." Gaara put two plates on the counter and sat down next to Neji.

"Would you be opposed to taking a job?" Neji asked, serving himself some of the pancakes, "Though I would have to ask what sort of talent you could offer my office."

Teal eyes stared at him for a long moment, "What if I don't have any?"

A shrug was the reply, "There's something you can do. I'll just observe you the rest of this case and tell you my decision on it later. At first glance Tenten and Lee seemed pretty talentless as well."

The red-head gave a slight smile at that and ate the rest of his breakfast in silence.

* * *

The building the memorial service that was to precede the funeral itself was decorated in tasteless black and gold hangings. Neji looked around, "It's been a long time since I was in a gathering like this," he said quietly, nodding at the group of exceptionally well dressed upper class that were filing in the doors.

He stood next to Gaara near the back, both quietly watching the people coming and going. The boy was certain they weren't as unnoticeable as they would have liked, his choice of black slacks and blouse accented by a deep red vest had seemed appropriate for the occasion... more so than Neji's white blouse paired with the deep blue slacks, or at least it _did_ until he saw how everyone else here had almost dressed as if they were at a gala, not a funeral.

"You had been around this type before?" the boy asked.

A brief moment of sadness filtered through the white eyes, "A _very_ long time ago. I..."

"Neji?" a soft voice asked, and both turned to see a small framed woman wearing a deep blue kimono tied with a foamy green obi.

She had the same white eyes Neji did, and Gaara wondered for a moment if she was the girl in the picture in the hallway.

Tears came to her eyes, and she smiled, "It _is_ you! It's been so long!"

"Not long enough," came the cold reply, "I didn't think you knew the deceased."

"No one really did, she was such a recluse," the woman waved her hand dismissively, "Most of the ones here are trying to save face with the St. Claire's." she glanced up at Neji's forehead, and her voice lowered, "Father's here! You can't cover it up or he'll..."

"Lady Hyuga," Itachi's voice interrupted her, "I believe that you were being asked for by the refreshment table."

"Oh Detective Uchiha!" she smiled at the man dressed in black, "This is almost a reunion now," she excused herself and rushed away.

"She hasn't changed," Neji commented dryly.

"Though she is correct in her assessment," the raven haired detective commented, "You might get into a bit of trouble if Hiashi sees that you covered up the mark."

"Not that I really care," the brunet answered.

"What exactly is going on anyways?" Gaara suddenly spoke, "This is more of a social club than a funeral!"

"Exactly," Itachi said, "The prominent families all have to pay their respects... and whenever that happens, there's a chance to raise status."

"But this isn't some sort of feudal society," the red-head looked around in disgust, "What do they need status for anyways?"

"Business contracts, government favors, this list goes on," Neji crossed his arms, "There's a reason I left all this after all."

"Besides the fact that your father was killed?" at that Itachi bowed and disappeared into the crowd.

Gaara stared up at Neji who shook his head, "We have something else to concentrate on right now," the older man pointed out, "You and I may be the only ones that are here for Maya's sake after all."

The red-head stared after Itachi, "What about him?"

"He's here for justice," the brunet said after a moment, "So for the moment I suppose he's here for Maya as well."

* * *

It was entirely by accident that Gaara found the quiet empty chapel that held the casket. He had ducked into a door to get away from the crowd after he and Neji had separated to investigate the area more fully.

He sighed, _I'm already failing at this, _and walked towards the dark box that lay open. He slowly gazed down at his dead friend, "Your hairs all wrong," he said at the dark brown page boy she had now as opposed to the badly bleached shoulder length hair she had in life, "And what's with that outfit. You _hated_ to wear dresses." He lightly brushed a wrinkle out of the light pink dress, "You hated that color too." he took his hand back, a little guilty.

_"You're always straightening out my clothes!" she teased him as he fixed the collar to her work shirt, "Go buy some for yourself!"_

He chewed his lip, "Couldn't they have gotten you that purple blouse you had your eye on?" a hand placed itself on his shoulder and he jumped, whipping around to face the pastor.

"It sounds like you knew Miss Maya very well," the kindly looking man with scraggly white hair smiled, "That's pretty refreshing. Not many have come in here to visit her before the service." he took Gaara's hand and shook it, "I'm Brother Jiraiya, and who might you be little lamb?"

"G...gaara..." he managed to get out completely overwhelmed by the man's presence.

"Well Gaara, I have to admit to you, I'm pretty good at public speaking, especially about a pretty girl or two, but I'm just plain stumped here. Since you're her friend, would you mind helping me write this eulogy I'm supposed to give?"

He gave a slight nod, somehow sensing Maya would have wanted him to.

* * *

Neji walked closer to the man with the slicked back graying hair that he knew from a preemptive profiling to be Demarco St. Claire. He was almost about to address the man when he turned towards him.

"Well Hiashi! I didn't know that you were here!"

Hiashi stepped forward from his position behind Neji, "My daughters and I came to pay our respects to the deceased."

"And who is this young man?" the cold gray eyes turned to Neji.

"This is my prodigal son, I was not expecting to see him here myself," Hiashi bowed stiffly as Demarco walked away, "What are you doing here Nephew?" he asked after they had been left alone.

"A friend of the deceased has asked me to help find her murderer," he stared at his uncle, "It was unintentional of me to meet up with you here."

"Maya was a sweet child, but I hadn't seen much of her since the illness had set in," the older Hyuga closed his eyes in thought.

"She had left home for two years," Neji said quietly, "Or that is what I gathered from the detective on the homicide case."

"The illness had set in five years ago," Hiashi said, "It was a form of heart disease from what I remembered, but suddenly it had seemed that she was better, she had even made a few appearances at galas." he thought quietly, "This was about two years ago that she had started appearing again... now why would the police believe that she was a missing person?"

"I'm going to have to ask Itachi."

"Incidentally, the next time you show your face at a social gathering, I expect you to show the seal on your forehead," the older man started to walk away, "Though truth be told, you won't be coming to many more of these will you?"

"No, I don't plan on it," Neji agreed as Hiashi walked away.

An usher came into the room to announce the funeral service was about to take place, and Neji followed him into the chapel, hoping to find Gaara along the way.

The red-head was waiting for him in the back pew of the place wearing a bit of a sad yet smug smile.

"What have you been up too?" Neji raised an eyebrow at the boy as he sat down.

"Not much," came the answer, "Did you find anything out?"

"Maybe... I won't know until I can speak to Itachi on it."

"Meet me in my office after this is over then," the raven haired man sat on the other side of Neji, "I think I have decided to give you my full cooperation on this matter."

The pastor took the podium and the service began.


	6. Chapter 6

_Tears in The Rain_

_AN: __**You're a mature intelligent audience, and this is a fanfiction site. Do I really need to say it every time?**_

_**Le sigh... Naruto is not mine. This is an act of love and fangirlism on my part.**_

_**Chapter Six**_

Gaara shifted his feet uncomfortably as he and Neji stood outside the chapel and watched the people walk past them after the service. Suddenly the older man stepped protectively in front of him, and he peered out to see the man with slicked graying hair and a black business suit.

He looked up at Neji who gave a slight nod. Teal eyes focused on Demarco, _His eyes... he's not even pretending to grieve. _

Demarco was speaking in low tones to someone behind him, a slithery looking man with long black hair worn straight down and wearing, of all things, white business suit. Suddenly he looked up and cold blue eyes stared straight at the red headed boy.

Gaara shuddered, he had never felt so cold in his life, and took a step back.

The man grinned callously and walked away, the other following. Neji placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder, "Come on, Itachi's waiting on us," he whispered, a cautious gaze following Demarco and his associate. The red-head mutely nodded, and let Neji lead him away from the building.

* * *

"Your co-worker faxed these documents to me before I left for the funeral," Itachi placed a folder in front of Neji, "I went there to gather more information." his obsidian eyes seemed to glint with a reddish tint as he drummed his fingers on the desk, "I believe you found out the same thing from your Uncle that I did... to the high end social world, Maya St. Claire never disappeared."

"And yet, here's a missing persons report right here... and the receipts for several detective agencies. Why pretend like she had run away when they had her."

"Possibly because of this thing Ms. Tenten found in the deep recesses of the St. Claire database... and I'm going to overlook the obvious crime of hacking... since she did turn this information over." Itachi handed the paper in his hand to Gaara.

"Maya's death certificate... but how..." his eyes widened as he noticed the date, "This was two years ago!" Neji took it from him and narrowed his eyes at the information.

"If you compare that date to the missing person's report, it was the same day," Itachi ignored the questioning glances and leaned forward, "Someone on my end is being paid off to cover this whole mess off as well."

"But who was Maya then?" Gaara asked suddenly, "The girl that I was friends with... who was she?"

Another folder was placed on the desk and he slowly picked it up. He chewed his lip at the name, _Kari Junro_ "Th...this is what she told Gai her name was..."

"That is partly why I was able to find her missing persons report so easily," Itachi said gently, "I suspect she was trying to pick up her own identity instead of play-acting as the sickly Maya."

"Who died of syphilis." Neji finally spoke, "At the age of fourteen," he put down the certificate and looked at Itachi, "There's a chance that the one who gave her the disease was a stranger... but the way that it was covered up tells me otherwise. That and..." he turned to Gaara, "She was a prostitute when you met her."

He nodded numbly, "I made her quit," he said in a low voice. _She died because of me... because they wouldn't let her reveal their secrets._

"And that probably gave her some peace that she hadn't before," Neji commented quietly, "You said that you two were thinking of buying a house with the money from the diner. Seems like she wanted to leave that life, otherwise any amount of convincing on your part wouldn't have taken her away."

"Your agency can move more freely than I can in this matter," Itachi's eyes sweeped the police office, "I want to bring this to light. Did you see the one that was speaking with him at the funeral?"

Neji nodded, "You might finally get that evidence you need then."

"As much as I hate to get further in your debt, I would greatly appreciate your cooperation."

* * *

"Where did you get this?" a very pleased Neji asked Tenten as they looked over a set of blueprints, in particular, blueprints to the club that Gaara had met Kari.

"Same place I got all the other information," she grinned, "The security's pretty tight though," she pointed at the paper, "There's only one entrance, but from what I can tell, they have some of the best bouncers in the city."

"Lee can take care of them if we need to, but that would alert those inside to the intrusion," he drummed his fingers on the table as he thought.

"Perhaps a marvelous present that we could hide inside!" Lee suggested from his chair on the other side of the room.

"You idiot! No one ever falls for that!" Tenten chided, "What we need is someone to go on the inside... ugh... I don't want to go undercover though," she looked at Neji, "You're pretty enough."

"I doubt I'm their type," he mused looking over the plans.

The three sat in glum silence for a long moment.

"I could go," Gaara said in a small voice, "They're after me anyways."

"It's too dangerous," came the quick reply from Neji.

The red-head responded by walking over to the blueprints and pointing, "Directly across the entrance is a high rise, Tenten could you hit the guards from there?"

A moment passed and she slowly nodded, "But that does you no good if you're inside!"

"Neji said it... that would alert the ones inside to an intrusion."

White eyes widened, "And might distract them enough so that I could get inside after you." he turned to Tenten, "You wouldn't have to snipe the guards, just create a small diversion to get them away from the entrance."

She nodded, "I'll have to get my laptop up there, but I could wreck some havoc with the electricity too."

Neji grinned, "Lee, I would need you to keep an eye on the guards as well. Keep them from going inside the club after us."

"How would we set this up though?" Lee asked.

Tenten and Neji stared at him for a moment, before Gaara reached into his pocket, "There were information cards at the funeral. I bet if I call Demarco and innocently ask about Maya... he may even underestimate me enough to not see anything into it."

"I doubt it..." Tenten said, and the brunet nodded.

"But it would be an opportunity too good for him to pass, and it would certainly save him some money if you came to him on your own." Neji thought for a moment, "Tenten, do you still have those communication toys you begged so hard for?"

* * *

Gaara hung up the phone and turned to Neji who stood at the doorway to his bedroom, "Well?" the white eyed man asked.

"I'm meeting him tomorrow evening there," came the quiet reply.

"Are you certain that you're alright with this? If you want I can get you somewhere safe until this is all over," a few steps and he was across the room.

"Why do you care?"

Silence followed as Gaara chewed his lip and stared at Neji who simply gave him a soft smile and a gentle poke to the tattoo on his forehead.

"That doesn't answer the question." his teal eyes narrowed.

"It does. You'll just have to figure it out," another smile and he turned around and started to walk out of the room.

"Are you always this smug?"

"Are you always this defensive?" the door closed and Gaara was left alone with his thoughts. Sighing he walked over to his closet and tried to concentrate on choosing clothes for the events in the next evening.

He chewed his lip again and looked towards the door, trying to fathom the meaning behind the strange gesture. Finally he sighed, and walked to the door and into the hallway.

"Neji... "

"Popcorn?" the brunet called from the couch, "I was going to watch a movie."

Memories of sneaking into theatres with Ma... _Kari, her name was Kari _swelled in him, and Gaara sat down on the light blue couch, "What are we watching?"

"_Bladerunner_, have you ever seen it?" at the shake of Gaara's head, he smiled, "My dad used to rent it and he and I would stay up late... It was one of the last times we ever did anything together. I was four, but I remember watching the movie pretty well."

The red head chewed his lip, "What happened to your father?"

The white eyes darkened, "He was killed... he took Uncle's place at a political event and ended up..." his voice trailed off, "For a long time I was angry at them, even went so far as to almost kill my cousin..."

"What changed that?"

"Some blonde idiot knocked some sense into me when I joined the army. And after that Uncle finally told me the truth of dad's death... that they had heard about the attempt beforehand and that dad had knocked Uncle out and took his place, because he didn't want his brother to die."

Gaara hugged his knees and stared at Neji, "Was that true?"

"Believe it or not it was," a small smile, "He had trusted Uncle to take care of me, and Uncle still had Aunt and his daughters... all dad had was me, and he thought me strong enough to handle his death." He turned his attention to the television, "Shall we watch the movie?"

At the slight nod, he took the remote and turned on the set.

* * *

The movie ended, and Neji looked down at Gaara who had fallen asleep during the show and had unconsciously snuggled against him.

"Hey," he reluctantly nudged the boy.

"Mmmph," came the reply and arms snaked around his waist and hugged Neji tighter, "Warm."

"You're going to react badly in the morning to this," the brunet said reluctantly, .

Teal eyes opened widely and Gaara jumped away from the other man, "Wh..what was I doing?" he sputtered out a quick blush coming to his face.

Neji said nothing and smiled as he rose from the couch and took the popcorn bowl to the kitchen.

"I should go on to bed," Gaara got up, "It's going to be a big day tomorrow," he tried very hard not to meet the amused white eyes as he retreated into the bedroom and closed the door.

He leaned against it for a moment, _It wasn't that bad to wake up... _his face turned bright red and he tried his best to completely and utterly deny any feelings for the Hyuga for the next several minutes.

"No good," he finally said as he collapsed face first on the bed. _Let's face it, I'm more than a little attracted to him. Damn, damn, damn._

That's not what he wanted to be concentrating on at this moment, _Kari's killers! I have to figure out what's going on there before I can worry about anything else!_

A guilty feeling seeped into his stomach, "I'll get them for you," he whispered, "Then I'll worry about everything else."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Tears in the Rain**_

_**AN: **__Naruto not mine. But I do want a Gaara plushie! Durn fixed crane machine..._

_**Chapter Seven**_

_Pain, that's all there was for him as he laid on the bed with his hands tied over his head. "Wh..why?" he managed to get out as he was struck with the rod again._

_"You killed her, the only one I loved," came the answer, "So now I have to make you suffer." a weight came on top of him, lips hovered over his, "Such a good little boy... you almost look like she did," the voice said more gently this time as a hand lovingly caressed his cheek._

_But it was all a lie. He would turn harsh again very soon, just like he had done so many times before. As those lips touched his, the tongue thrust in, the boy couldn't take it anymore, he bit down hard... too hard. He tasted blood... _

_And then suddenly his hands were free and soon the whole room turned red._

"No!" Gaara yelled as he sat up in the bed, then hugged his knees and stared at his hands, almost seeing the blood dripping on them again, almost tasting it in his mouth.

He got up and ran across the hall to the bathroom, barely managing to get in there before he started to throw up.

A knock came at the door, "You alright?" came the concerned voice of Neji.

"Y...yes..." Gaara managed to say, and he turned on the faucet and used the cool water to wash his face, "Just... just a bad dream..." He collapsed onto the floor and leaned his head against the wall, _How many times before I ended it... just because I wanted... _he shook his head, what his uncle gave him certainly wasn't love.

And now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. There were beginning to be a few too many of those things that he couldn't face at the moment. Taking a deep breath, he slowly got up, and stared at himself in the mirror the see how badly he looked.

Certainly a lot better than he had a few days ago. The shadows around his eyes were still as dark as ever, but he actually did sleep for two whole nights, even if one of them ended in nightmares. He was doing much better than when he was out on the streets shivering as he tried very hard to ignore the environment and rest. Hell, it even looked like he was gaining a bit of weight, he _knew _that his cheeks were much more sunken than they looked now.

Peeking out into the hallway, he hurried back into his room, and got dressed in the black clothing he had picked out the night before and taking a deep breath, went back out into the hallway and into the kitchen.

There was a plate of saltines and a small glass of ginger ale waiting for him, Gaara sighed and sat down, then noticing the small note lying on the table. A small smile came to his lips, but he shook it away as he picked up the paper.

_You're on your own for a bit. I had some business to take care of in preparations for tonight. _

"Wonder what," he mumbled before biting into the crackers.

* * *

It was well into the evening, almost an hour before the appointed meeting with Demarco that Neji returned, with Tenten, who was carrying a box of electronics, in tow.

"Let's get you wired up," he said to Gaara and pointed to a earpiece he had clipped on, "I'll be able to hear everything that happens this way, so I can try and get in there if you have any trouble."

"They shouldn't notice the receiver," Tenten added, holding up a _very _small electronic, "I had to mess with it a bit, but it should work fine."

Gaara stared as she fitted the electronic into a dark silver feather hanging on a black cord, "You're not going to put it on me?"

"There's a chance they'll look for something like this on you, but a lot of people overlook jewelry, especially simple pieces like this," she handed it to him, "If it makes you feel better, Neji picked it out."

There was a slight hint of teasing in her voice, but it was lost on Gaara as he tried on the necklace, "It's really nice." he fingered the ruby bead that separated the feather from the cord, "But will it work?"

"It will," Tenten smiled, "Neji and I tested it out this afternoon before we brought it over here. And I figure that this won't be the only case it comes in handy," she grinned, "It's going to be great not to be the undercover operations."

Neji glared at her, "Didn't you have something else to do?"

She chuckled, "Oh that's right," she reached down into the box and pulled out a skinny box, "Gaara give me your left arm."

He complied and she fitted him with a black leather armband, "I have more gadgets than Batman," she bragged happily, "This is a dart shooter, so if you get into a real tough pickle, just press this button," she pointed to a almost unnoticeable circle on the wrist, "It'll fire a projectile at who you point it at."

"But I'm right handed," Gaara managed to say as he stared at the bracer.

"I know!" Tenten grinned, "That's why it's so perfect. It's designed as a last defense though, so don't think you can just shoot your way out with it," she gave him a deadly serious glare, "After this if you want some serious weapons training, I know a good guy," she looked at her watch, "I'm off to set up shop Neji," she said as she got up to leave, "Good luck you two!"

"You too," Gaara said quietly.

She smiled and left the apartment, leaving Neji and Gaara alone.

"What have you been up to all day?" the red-headed boy asked.

"Something that will make tonight _much _easier," Neji smiled, "But I'll tell you what later."

* * *

He pulled the burgundy coat closer around himself as he stepped closer to the doors of the nightclub, _Damn at all this rain. Making it colder than it needs to be. _He resisted the urge to turn around and look at the building behind him, where he knew Tenten to be.

"What do you want kid?" a tall beefy man asked, as he looked at a list.

"I have an appointment with Demarco St. Claire... about Maya," Gaara looked up at him, _All of them are this huge... will Lee be able to... _he chewed his lip, willing away his uncertainties, _You've seen him fight before. These guys will be nothing_.

"Name?" the man looked down his list

"Gaara Sabaku."

"Ah. Last room on the left, past the kitchen," the bouncer grinned evilly then, something that unnerved the boy, though he didn't show it, "Came for a private party then?"

"Not entirely," came the whispered response as Gaara ran inside.

He slowly navigated through the much too noisy dance floor and found his way to the kitchen, which had nauseating smelling food. _Not even bar food... just crap. _he noted before he saw the door leading to the room he was looking for.

Taking a deep breath, _Steady... steady... he'll come if there's any problems. Besides you need to get the evidence to make this guy pay for what he did to Maya and Kari. _

A small voice suddenly spoke up then, _Do you really think it'll be that easy?_

He growled at the doubt and reached his hand to open the door.

* * *

_"He's in," _Tenten's voice came over the speaker, _"And I got a clear shot from up here."_

"Hold off until I give the word," Neji spoke into the receiver at his collar, then turned to Lee, "You have the chocolate Gai gave you right?"

"The super secret power chocolate! Yes!" Lee said happily, "Along with the instructions that I shall not use them unless in case of dire emergency!"

Neji nodded, and adjusted the speaker in his ear to listen for Gaara, but the boy hadn't made it to the back yet, based on the music blaring through the electronic device.

The music started to fade, and he heard sounds of a kitchen, and then finally...

_"Good to see you boy."_

* * *

"Very nice of you to meet with me," Gaara said as politely as possible and bowed to the man with the slicked back grayed hair. "I am pleased that you are willing to speak with me on Maya."

"Nonsense," Demarco gave a chilling smile then, "My prodigal daughter was very fond of her few close friends. When I had heard she quit my operations, I knew it was because of someone she had met."

"So you did use her like that," his eyes narrowed.

"Too many people paying good money... especially for worthless girls with her type of look. Did you know boy... you should be in movies" he snapped his fingers and a hand appeared in front of Gaara. He felt himself being grabbed from behind, but before he could call out, the hand came closer, holding a piece of cloth.

He collapsed to the ground, and Demarco kicked the boy, "Take him down to the cellars with the rest of the unwanted ones." he said to the thug in the room, "And prepare a gift for his friends outside."

* * *

"Now!" Neji shouted into the receiver, as he and Lee ran to the front of the building, "Tenten, damn it..."

_"I'm afraid that she won't be of any service," _a silky voice came over the speaker, _"I have her quite incapacitated now."_

Neji's eyes narrowed, "Lee be careful, but it seems we're on our own right now."

Lee gave a small gasp of surprise, but steeled his expression and leaped into attack at the bouncers, "I will keep them off! You go in and get Gaara."

"Lee... there's ten of them," came the protest.

"I have Gai's belief and support!" Lee said happily, "I can easily take down hundreds more!"

Neji gave him a last look and almost smiled at the site of Lee enjoying himself and ran into the club, rushing past the dance floor and kitchen, and into...

An empty room. He looked around, pressing the walls to see if there was a trap door.

There! A panel opened up and he ran downstairs into darkness vaguely aware that even this was a trap, _Please let him be alright!_


	8. Chapter 8

**_Tears in The Rain_**

_**AN:**__Naruto is not mine. The original characters herein are from my tortured mind._

_**Chapter 8**_

_"Hey are you alright?" the girl with bright green eyes and wavy dark hair asked the boy huddled by the dumpster outside the club, clutching a violin case to his chest._

_He looked up at her, fear shining in his teal eyes. He wondered why she didn't look away from him in disgust... he was filthy, after what had happened..._

_"Come on," she said gently, offering her hand, "Let's get you away from this place."_

_He reached up..._

And opened his eyes to find himself lying on a stone floor. Lifting his head up he saw that there were others in the small room with him, all girls and boys about Maya's age and younger. Most had dark hair, but there were two that had blonde ringlets.

Ten children in total, all with eyes that were far too old to belong to anyone so young.

"Where am I?" he whispered.

"The pit," one girl, the eldest it seemed answered, "You've done something to get Father angry at you then."

He shakingly stood up and gave her his attention, for some reason she reminded him of Kari, but that could be due to her eyes, they were the same bright green, "What do you mean?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, "You made one of his customers angry or got a disease or something." she nodded over at a little boy, twelve or so, that was crying in a corner, "He got burned and ruined his face... and they..." pointing to the two blonde girls, both looking about thirteen, "Hit puberty too early. They're not cute anymore. The rest of us made some of Father's customers dissatisfied, and he had Uncle Orochimaru bring us down here for medicine research or the movies." she smiled sadly, "I'm one of the lucky ones, I still look pretty young, so I can do the movies instead of the research."

Gaara tried to peer outside the barred door to see what was outside, "What kind of movies?" he asked, trying to keep the rising bile in his throat down.

One of the kids screamed and started sobbing then, and the girl went to comfort him, "The kind you get naked and do naughty things in," she said in an icy tone.

At that the door opened, and Gaara found himself face to face with the snake-like man that was with Demarco at the funeral. Vaguely aware of the children behind him screaming, all except for the icy green eyed girl, he stepped back, eyes darting for a weapon, _something_ that might subdue him, he clenched his fists.

And fingers brushed against the hard leather of the bracer Tenten had given him.

* * *

The stairway was dark, but he managed to make it down them without any problems and soon Neji found himself in an underground laboratory. He flattened himself against the walls, and inched his way towards where he hoped Gaara was, and soon stopped at an intersection.

"Now what," he mumbled to himself when the receiver in his ear sputtered back to life.

He was never so relieved to hear a voice in his life when he heard the sounds through the device. _Seems Tenten was right about that pendant... he still has it._

He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out which of the three hallways the pit was on. Screams sounded both through the receiver and to the right. Turning, he ran down it.

* * *

_That actually... worked! _Gaara lowered his left hand, gingerly rubbing the bracer and stepped over the prone body, then turned to the children inside the room, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Most of them started forward, but the girl with green eyes stayed behind, "We don't have anywhere to go," she argued.

"You want to be here when he wakes up?" Gaara asked her, "You like being used?"

She stared at him, then hugged her knees, "It's worse out there than it is here."

He closed his eyes in an attempt to keep his patience, "It's always going to be unless you do something about it," he said after a long moment, then turned to the other children, "Come on, let's go."

"Gaara!" Neji exclaimed as he ran into the room, "You're alright!"

"Yeah, yeah I guess I am," Gaara sighed in relief as he saw the white-eyed man, then teal eyes widened as he noticed the gray haired man behind the Hyuga, the gun being drawn...

Without thinking he ran forward pushing himself between Neji and Demarco, unsure if he had heard or felt the gunshot as pain came rushing over him from a point near his chest and he landed in the white-eyed man's arms.

* * *

Tenten groggily opened her eyes, to look at the shadowy man in front of her who was _daring _to touch her laptop.

She reached to her pants pocket, and quietly got out a small cylinder and pressed a button on it, then threw it towards the man.

At the flash and smoke she attacked, taking a knife out of her boot and slashing at the figure, unnerving him just enough to pause before he started to fight back, "Where is it?"

She turned the knife and readied herself, "Where's what?"

"The recordings you got from the club!" he demanded as he charged, she quickly countered, sending him past her.

"They're not on my computer," she said smugly, "I had those delivered directly to Detective Uchiha's personal files."

The man took a step back, "Th...they have the evidence?"

"Mmhmm," she smiled, "And based on how things are looking, they'll be here any minute now."

"But our contact! Uchiha won't be able to..."

"Your contact was compromised this morning," Itachi's voice said as he reached the top of the roof, in full swat gear. The man slumped down in fear, and was carried away by police that had followed him to the roof top, Itachi turned to Tenten, "There were gunshots a moment ago," he held up a walkie-talkie and spoke into it, "How are things on your end?"

_"About to blow into the cellar now, yeah." _the voice on the other end said.

"Good work," Itachi turned to Tenten, who was looking through the scope of her rifle, searching for signs of what had been going on since she had been knocked out, "Lee took care of most of the bouncers before we even got here. Though I'm going to have to insist that you and he go to with the medical team to ensure that you have no serious injuries."

"What about Neji and Gaara?" she asked, "You said there were gunshots a minute ago!"

"We're looking for them now," he said, turning away and racing down the fire escape stairs to the street.

* * *

Neji was vaguely aware of the sticky thick substance that was dripping down the front of Gaara's shirt as he pressed the boy close to him and turned to the man who held the gun.

The barrel was an inch away from his face and he narrowed his eyes, "The police already have all the evidence they need," he said in a low voice, "Maya and Kari won't have died in vain."

"Maya and Kari are dead?" a girl came out of the dungeon room, Neji noted it was the same voice that he had heard over the receiver, "Father... you said that you had let them go."

"Get back in your cell Eve. And take the children with you." Demarco growled.

"You said that as long as I gave you what you wanted that my sisters would have been safe," Eve stepped forward, her hand behind her back, "You said that Maya and Kari would never be a part of this... You promised Mother even!"

"What good is a promise to a whore," Demarco grinned maliously, "And just how were you supposed to protect those dear sisters of yours when you were down here?" he pulled the hammer back on the revolver.

"Maya and Kari were supposed to be your public good daughters!" Eve cried and then pulled her hand away from her back, revealing the pistol she had taken off of Orochimaru, "They were to up your social status and I was to further your underworld contacts," she pointed the gun at him, cocked back the hammer, "Wasn't that what you and your associates had decided?"

Demarco turned to face her, "You got boring."

She pulled the trigger... and nothing. She tried again cursing.

Smirking Demarco opened fire on her and she fell to the ground, he turned back to Neji.

And got knocked down to the ground with a palm to his nose. With one hand, Neji held Gaara as he readied himself for the next attack.

It never came, Demarco rose, there was another gunshot... and he fell again, a large crimson stain spreading from his chest, and the Hyuga saw the girl, Eve, collapse back to the ground, a strange smile appearing on her lips as she closed her eyes and released the gun in her hands.

Neji turned his attention to the red head, and laid him down, "Come on," he whispered, "We got them, you can't bail on me now." he pressed down on the wound in the chest, "It's a graze... it has to be."

Hot tears fell on Gaara's face, though Neji would probably never admit it later, and he bent down and gently kissed the boy, "Wake up now."

An explosion sounded throughout the cellar, and Itachi's voice came through the electronic device on his ear, _"Now's not the time to be worrying about your boyfriend. Get him to the medical team instead of sitting there."_

Neji turned bright red, and gently picked up Gaara, _Damn... the feather... _

He looked to the children, "Come..." he stopped, they had all huddled over Eve's body.

"We'll catch up," a boy said, "We just want to say good bye first."

Neji nodded and ran down the hallway.

* * *

He stood in the hospital waiting room, refusing to sit until he heard the news. Tenten and Lee waved as they came in and sat down.

"How is he?" the twin-bunned woman asked gently, "It's been.." her voice trailed off and she shook her head, "He'll make it Neji." she finished quietly.

"Itachi has just closed the investigation!" Lee said excitedly, "It seems that with the testimony of the children you rescued many such places will be closed and that one that he has been after for so long is finally in custody!" his eyes shown, "Such passion! A long time goal has finally been achieved..."

"Lee," Neji said gently, "Shut up."

Tenten pulled Lee aside and whispered something in his ears, and both sat quietly down.

A nurse with blonde hair tied in a ponytail walked in then, "Mr. Hyuga? You were waiting on news of Mr. Sabaku, correct?"

He nodded, a frantic look coming to his eyes.

She smiled warmly, "He'll be alright. He's stable now, and being moved... he hasn't woken up yet, and may not for a while, but you can sit and talk to him if you want."


	9. Chapter 9

_**AN: **__This is last chapter for _Tears in the Rain. _As always, Naruto is owned by Kishimoto not myself. _

_And another note, I do plan on a few sequels to _Tears, _so keep on the lookout for them!_

_**Epilogue**_

Gaara was painfully reminded of why he hated hospitals when he awoke to find himself in the sterile white room with all sorts of tubes attached to him. "Hn," he grunted as he turned his teal eyes to look around the room.

His gaze softened when he saw the fedora covering the face of the long haired private investigator that had allowed Gaara to live with him for the last few days... someone that the boy had been fostering a growing number of feelings for, so much in fact that he had literally jumped in front of a bullet to try and save him.

He briefly wondered if Neji would do the same for him, and tried his best to remember what had happened after he was shot.

Demarco was dead, that much was certain. And Itachi had all the evidence he needed to put Orochimaru well away from civilization. Of Eve and the other children he had no idea.

For some reason he recalled an explosion, but his mind was foggy, perhaps from whatever painkillers were drifting in his I.V. But before that...

He touched his lips gingerly, _that_ he clearly remembered, barely conscious or not. And it wasn't a resuscitation kiss, no Neji had...

A bright blush came to his face, _You'd think after all that Uncle's done I wouldn't get embarrassed so easily. Hell... I killed the bastard by biting out his tongue! _

_Still... it was nice to know someone would cry over me... I was never really sure about that._

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice the white eyes peer at him from beneath the fedora or the amused soft smile that came to Neji's lips, "Nice to see you rejoin us in the living world."

Gaara jumped, "How long have you been..."

"Long enough to see you touch your lips and turn a lovely shade of pink," Neji walked over and sat on the hospital bed, "Now what caused that blush?" he asked teasingly.

"Shut up," came the indignant reply, "I don't know why you _aren't_ blushing.. you're the one that ki...mmph." soft lips landed on his and he closed his eyes, slowly responding to...

It was over all too soon, though Neji did add a small peck on his tattoo before leaving the bed just as the nurse walked in.

"Oh it's good to see you awake," she smiled, tossing her blonde ponytail, "Dr. Tsunade has been really worried about you, but it seems that the worst is over."

Gaara glanced at Neji, "When did I get shot?"

"A week ago," came the quiet reply, "You almost died on the operating table as well." Gaara saw the pain in his eyes, "But you stabled and they let me sit in the room with you."

"How nice it is to have a boss that worries about you so much," the nurse smiled as she took some of Gaara's blood and checked his I.V.

An agonizing few moments of silence later, she finally left, and Gaara turned back to Neji,

"Eve... what happened with her? Who was she exactly?"

"Just as she said... I had Tenten look deeper into it. She, Maya, and Kari were all daughters, triplets, of one of St. Claire's previous employees. He claimed Maya as his own and showed her off, but when Orochimaru and his business came into the picture he saw a business opportunity. Unfortunately it seemed he wasn't careful enough with Maya and she died as a result of illness." Neji narrowed his eyes, "I believe that's when Kari started to pose as her sister, believing Eve would be safe, all the while Eve was locked up for another part of the business, not knowing what had happened to her other sister."

Gaara's face darkened, "If Kari was trying to keep Eve safe... then why did she run?"

"She found out," Neji said quietly, "Most likely the night she found you by that dumpster. Tell me, did she ever work at that club again after that?"

He slowly shook his head, "No... she was freelance... and she cut her hair and bleached it soon after that too..."

"She most likely knew that she couldn't do anything for Eve, but she had to help someone," Neji smiled sadly, "I think though, that she was able to save more than she realized, though indirectly."

They sat in silence for a long moment after that.

Finally Neji got up and sat down on the bed beside Gaara, "Thanks for waking up," he said in a pained whisper.

Gaara stared at him for a moment, then slowly inched forward and shyly brushed his lips against Neji's.

* * *

It was another few days until he got released from the hospital and he returned to the apartment with Neji.

"You're to finish getting a g.e.d." Neji said quietly, "But I believe that you had some talent my business could use."

"Is this your way of saying I can stay here?" Teal eyes regarded him.

"You still need to call your sister. And then there's one other thing," the Hyuga gave him a small envelope, "That came for you today."

Gaara opened the envelope and stared at the small jade ring that was inside with a small quiet smile, "Where did this come from?"

"Gai found it in Kari's belongings when he cleaned out her locker," Neji said, "He figured she would want you to have it."

The boy looked at the ring and slowly placed it on his ring finger on his right hand, "She was the first friend I ever really had," he said quietly.

"Then you can't forget her," Neji smiled, "But there will be more."

At that teal eyes met white and Gaara slowly nodded, "Ye... yeah you're right." Before he could say anymore the phone rang.

Neji went to answer it and Gaara looked out the window.

_Hey, what about that. _He mused quietly, _The sun's finally out._


End file.
